Artists’ Dates

The other week at my writing groups we did a workshop based on the best-selling book by Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way.

The Artist’s Way is a great book for anyone who is looking to become more creative. It is written as a 12 week course but there are two key exercises that form the foundation of the course and even when done on their own can produce some powerful results. (A friend of mine did them and wrote a full length play in a month!)

The first exercise Cameron calls the ‘Morning Pages’ – 3 pages of stream of consciousness that she recommends we write first thing in the morning. The theory is that this will give you an outlet for any issues that might be blocking you and it also trains you to overcome your internal censor – the voice in your head that tells you what you’re doing is no good.

The second, and my personal favourite exercise from the book, is called the ‘Artist’s Date’. I always have a bit of a giggle when I introduce this one in my workshops; ‘it’s where you take your inner artist on a date’ might go down well in California but in London it can be greeted with more than a few raised eyebrows.

But Cameron isn’t talking date date – you don’t have to book a candlelit dinner for one at your nearest bistro – what she is asking is that you set aside some time each week where you do something by yourself that you know will inspire you creatively.

Here are a few of the best and more unusual suggestions that came out of my workshops. Why don’t you try one for yourself this week?

Get off the train or tube at a station you’ve never been to before and explore. Go for a long walk in the woods. Go night driving. Watch an old film. Visit a museum. Revisit old haunts from your younger days and see how far you have come. Take photographs and really study the detail in each shot. Take a trip to the coast. Read a much loved classic. Look at some abstract art to free the mind. Walk along a river or canal. Have a pamper night. Do something scary. See a good play. Visit a historical place. Go people watching. Watch the Spanish film ‘Sex and Lucia’. Visit an art gallery and think of the stories behind the paintings. Go to a church or cathedral and sit in silence and see what ideas come up. Travel around London on the top deck of a bus. Go walking on a windy day. Visit a law court and sit in the public gallery. Get up early and sit in the garden and listen to the birdsong. Go to a bric a brac sale. Visit the Departure Lounge of a busy airport. Go to the ‘Naked Art Gallery’ in Chesham (!) Spend some time on London’s South Bank – last time I went there was a beach rave going on at two o’clock in the afternoon and Buzz Alldrin was speaking in the evening! Take your notebook to a cafe and free-write.

Please note: the author accepts no responsibility for any arrests that may occur as a result of any of the afore-mentioned Artists’ Dates, in particular the ‘people watching in a busy airport Departure Lounge’ and visiting the ‘Naked Art Gallery’ in Chesham.